<!DOCTYPE html>
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/fonts/ahem.css" />
<style>
.spacer {
  background: lightgray;
  block-size: 100px;
}
.multicol {
  column-count: 3;
  column-fill: auto;
  border: 1px solid;
  height: 4lh;
  width: 20ch;
  font-family: Ahem;
  font-size: 40px;
  line-height: 2;
}
.up-half {
  position: relative;
  top: -20px;
}
</style>
<div class="multicol">
  <span class="up-half">
    abc abc abc abc
  </span>
  abc abc abc abc
  abc abc
  <div class="spacer up-half"></div>
</div>
